"Not from a conventional perspective, as I understand it," Anton agreed. "But mine is not conventional. The contract takes the form of a near-literal sunder between myself and those particular emotions. If I am not in control, than the gist is; and when it's in control, it would kill everyone in the Hotel, and then attempt to kill everyone outside it, until it is stopped. There is no scale between us. It's either me, or it."

He'd tried it before, not always seriously. To give the gist quarter was to start losing lengths of chain, until the gist was all that was left. There was a reason Anton was known for being older than most gist-users lived to be.